Would Nance be caught in what I saw? I had no horoscope for her and couldn't make one, because she did not know the day of her birth.
"Where are your parents? Can you send to them for your birth date?” I asked.
Nance stopped with the corner of the cloth she was folding still tucked under her chin. “My parents? I never knew them. They both died of fever a few months after I was born, as did Tarvik's mother."
"I did not know that and I am sorry,” I said.
"Probably my uncle would know the date. I could ask when he returns, if it is important,” she said.
By then the information would be of no use, I thought, and tried to concentrate on the horoscopes of Erlan's family. No matter what happened beyond the gates, the temple itself, with its own guards and its hold on the minds of the people, would remain sanctuary for Nance. I believed that. I could almost overrule my heart with such assurances. But I could not find any hint of protection for Tarvik, not in his own stars and certainly not in the stars of his relatives.
One of those wretched flash visions hit me, blanked out my surroundings, filled my mind like a nightmare. In it, Kovat was sitting on a bench and was fallen forward, lying across a table, his shoulders hunched up, his scarred face turned to the side, cheek resting on a dish, something wet and greasy dripping from the edge of the tilted dish and soaking slowly into the fur collar of his cape. His jeweled hands hung to his sides. I didn't need anyone to tell me that he wasn't breathing.
I stared at Ober's chart, trying to remember if I had ever seen such evil in a horoscope and was relieved the vision was gone. None of it was anything I wanted to explain. But I was bound by my word to warn Tarvik. Of what? That I saw his father passed out in a vision? Maybe that's all it was, way too much wine for Kovat. Or too much imagination for me. I was pissed at Kovat. Maybe my vision was a bit of wishful thinking.
Closing my eyes, the better to think, I leaned against my hand, putting my palm down in the center of Ober's chart.
Big mistake. Visions are one thing, touching a horoscope is something else. No little flash on a scene, rather, I was sometimes pulled into touch and sound and smell. No silent battle this time. I saw the bottom of the world, a pit deeper than any coal mine, and felt sleet hit my face. The air was filled with swirling black grit and no light penetrated, only moving clouds of blackness. The stench was of death. I very nearly choked on it. My eyes popped open. I jerked my hand away from the chart.
With my eyes open, once again I slowly pressed my hand over the sun in her chart. And with my eyes open, I could feel a rapid heartbeat. My palm ached with cold.
No matter what one's work is, or how many others do the same job, each of us brings to our job our individual skills. This was mine, this damn physical reaction to touching the sun in a horoscope, and I really hated it.
"No good can come from arguing with myself,” I muttered to myself. “Tarvik is a spoiled brat, but he has been my protector. And I don't dislike him anything like the extent of Ober's horoscope."
"What is it you say?” Nance asked.
"I have to speak with Tarvik,” I said, looking up at her. “How do I arrange that? Can I send a message to him to come here?"
"Now? This morning? Please not now!” Nance wailed.
"Why ever not?"
"Why do you think I rush around so? If I can right the temple by noon, we can slip away at dusk and not return until sunup of the day past tomorrow."
"No, we can't."
"Stargazer! We have been locked in this boring place for ages! Wouldn't you like to ride away and cook our supper in the forest and enjoy the morrow on the plateau with nothing to do but lie in the sun and fly with the wings?"
"You fly, toots. I will do the sun-lying,” I said. “Yes, that would be fun, Nance, but we can't, not now. There are problems shaping up that would catch us out.” I could not think how to explain to her the rotting soul I had felt in Ober's chart. I would never again lay my palm on a chart, never, not ever.
"Why now?” She stamped her foot at me. “If you must see such warnings in your silly circles, stop looking at them."
Trying to close my mind to that death pit in Ober's heart, I kept my voice steady. Tarvik must be warned. “Consider, Nance. With Ober and her daughter here, extra guards will be everywhere. Not only ours. We are also surrounded by Ober and Alakar's guards. Somebody is sure to see us."
"I suppose,” she sighed. “If you must see Tarvik, send a message with a guard."
"Could we send a message with Lor? Could that be done? It might be better if others didn't know about our meeting."
Nance clapped her hands and laughed. “I like that! Secret meetings with Tarvik! He will be pleased."
"Why should Tarvik be pleased?"
"Sometimes you are truly stupid, Stargazer. But do not heed me. Find out in your own time."
I knew where her mind was wandering and I wasn't going to waste time explaining to her that her cousin was a typical male, all ego. He flirted with every female in sight because he thought that was his main job in life.
"Can we send a message by Lor?” I persisted.
Of course we could. Whatever Nance asked of the stable keeper, he did, despite his grumbled protests. I told him to ask the prince to come to the temple any time that day.
I had thought Tarvik would come to the courtyard as he often did, but I misjudged. Instead he sent Lor back to us with instructions for Lor to bring me alone to the castle after dark, and in secret.
"I don't care much for that idea,” I told Nance.
"Are you afraid to meet alone with Tarvik?” she teased.
"Think, Nance. If Tarvik tells me to come to the castle in secret, then he must suspect we have a private way to leave the temple."
"What? No! No one knows of the doorway to the stable but you and me and Lor,” she cried.
"Then why would he ask me to do that?"
"Perhaps he suspects,” she said slowly, her expression begging me to agree. “But he cannot know."
"He will, if I follow his instructions."
I wanted to believe she was right, that he had nothing more than a suspicion. Tarvik's knowledge of the sliding stone to the stable could foul up future escape plans. And so to avoid exposing that secret, I informed our guards I was to be escorted to the castle, accompanied by old Lor. They nodded and smiled, relaxed again now that Kovat had left the city. It was as though everyone once again felt free to breathe.
The only household member who never changed was Kovat's large patchy dog. His muzzle was turning white. He gave me the briefest of glances from where he lay against a closed door, then settled back to sleep.
When we entered the castle, Tarvik opened his chamber door, saw the temple guards, and looked surprised. “You will leave and return to your posts,” he told the guards. “Lor will wait outside my door to return the templekeeper when I command it."
I stepped into his room and saw Artur, the guard with the streaked hair, standing against the far wall. He was slightly taller than Tarvik, and, I guessed, several years older. His eyes were a grayer blue, his skin a shade darker, his cheekbones and arched nose sharper. Nance was right. He was a looker.
Tarvik turned, following where I looked. “You, too, Artur,” he said. “Wait outside for me."
Artur nodded and followed the other guards from the room.
After closing the door behind them, Tarvik said, “I thought you wanted to see me privately, Stargazer. Why did you bring guards?"
Pushing the hood of my cloak back from my face so I could see him better, I said, “I can't leave the temple gates without the guards."
"Why did you leave by the gates?” he demanded.
"Is there some other way?"
He frowned, drawing his eyebrows together, and bounced lightly on the balls of his feet, such a fidgety guy, always moving. Had Kovat once looked like that, young, unscarred and handsome? While I thought about that, I glanced around his room. Rugs woven in bright patterns covered the w
alls. I couldn't see any openings in the walls, but I thought there might be some because one of the hanging cloths moved slightly, as though stirred by an air current. The floor was piled deeply with sheepskins and more of the bright wool rugs.
On the side wall several of the stones had been painted blue and against that background there were small drawings of a deer, a bear, a rabbit, a squirrel. A larger stone contained a picture of a white horse.
"Is that Banner?” I asked, walking over to the wall.
He nodded.
"That's very pretty.” I ran my finger lightly over it and could feel the roughness of the stone under the paint. He reached toward me, unfastened my cloak and slid it from my shoulders so quickly, I had no time to protest.
"I am not planning to stay."
"Then why are you here?"
"At your father's request."
He looked startled at my mention of Kovat. “He spoke with you privately?"
"He came to see me at the temple this morning before he left."
"Why should he seek you out alone at the temple?"
"Because he is free to move about his city and I am not,” I said, a bit too carefully, as though talking to a child. Might as well get this straightened out right now, wipe out any notion he had about secret doors in the temple. “While my journeying to the castle surrounded by guards draws considerable attention, his brief visit alone to the temple did not. The same holds true for you, my lad. You could have come to me when I asked to see you."
His lower lip jutted out in that childlike way that made me want to smile. “I rule the city in his absence. It is proper for me to send for you and not the other way."
Not proper to come to visit me? Hmm, then what were all those evening appearances when he banged on the gate. I almost asked him if I should turn him away the next time he came to share a story or a dance, but decided not. His rapid changes of moods were puzzling and worth avoiding. No surprise that Kovat feared for the safety of his only son. The difference between the two of them was that while both were courageous and arrogant, Kovat did not allow his emotions to blind his reason.
"What was it that Kovat the Slayer wanted of a templekeeper?” Tarvik demanded.
"He wants me to chart the stars and to warn you if I find anything wrong, uh, dangerous, evil, like that."
That caught his attention. He leaned close to me, his face almost touching mine, and asked, “What did you find?"
Something warned me, maybe some odd sound or maybe that sixth sense thing, but I reached out and pressed my fingertips against Tarvik's mouth to silence him and nodded toward the door. For all the door's thickness, its rough grain was no barrier to sound.
From the corridor we heard a woman ask, “Is the templekeeper still in my lord Tarvik's chamber?"
We heard Lor's mumbled admission.
"Is it his cousin or the other one?” the woman asked.
"The other."
"You will return to your stable. My guards will escort her back to the temple."
In the silence I could imagine Lor's strong, wrinkled hands clenching. He would not want to leave me. But he could not argue. Then I heard his slow shuffle down the corridor, his sandals slapping loudly on the hard floor and I knew he meant for me to hear him and figure out what to do.
"Which voice is that?” I whispered.
"Ober,” Tarvik said. “She can send Lor away, but Artur will remain at my door."
I beckoned him to the far corner away from the door, and said, “That's what I need to warn you about. She plots against you."
"How can Ober be of danger to me? And why should she?"
"I have no answer to that, Tarvik, but your father asked me to warn you and now I have."
"Why should I believe you?"
"No reason at all."
"If you think Ober is dangerous, you have put yourself in danger by coming here to warn me.” A thought wrinkled his forehead and deepened his scowl because his thoughts always showed all over him. I didn't bother to look to see if his fists were clenched. I kept my mouth shut and waited for him to make his own decision.
Finally he said, “Stargazer, do you warn me out of loyalty to Kovat?"
"No. I owe him nothing."
"Then you came because you fear for me."
"Fair's fair. You've tried to protect me. And I think if you want me to stay alive, you better send your own guards to escort me back to the temple. I don't trust Ober's guards."
He hesitated, glanced at the door, then caught my hand and led me behind one of the heavy wall rugs. Musty darkness made me sneeze, probably the musty more than the dark. Tarvik's grip tightened. I bumped against the wall, then moved through an archway concealed by the rug.
"Secret passages? Wow."
"Between the walls,” he whispered. “Here, this place is always cold.” In the darkness he reached around my shoulders to wrap me in my cloak that he still held. His fingers touched my throat and his hands fumbled with the clasp. I couldn't see a thing in the dark but I could feel his touch, hear his breathing.
And it was back to hand-holding, sword-carrying barbarian time. Was he carrying a sword? I hadn't noticed and I didn't suppose it was a normal piece of indoor apparel. It would have been clumsy around the house. But the hand-holding thing continued, his warm strong fingers wrapped around mine. In a strange, cold, dark, spooky secret passage, it was kind of nice to be able to feel his body heat and hear his footsteps and hang on to his hand.
Although I had no reason to memorize my path, I did, placing the pattern firmly in my mind while we stumbled up and down occasional steps. At one turning I heard a woman's voice, her tone too low for me to understand her words.
The passage had no lights, no windows, and I couldn't see a thing. I held my breath and reached out my free hand hoping Tarvik, who stalked rapidly in front of me dragging me by my other hand, would not feel my body turn. My fingers brushed the backing of a rug. So the passage opened to other rooms.
We ended at a blank wall that appeared to be a single stone set firmly in place. I could see Tarvik now, a shadow shape in the darkness. Either my eyes were adjusting to the darkness or light entered this inner passage at this point. I couldn't locate the source.
Tarvik reached up and touched a spot on the wall just above his head height. A secret door opened into the night air. He pulled me outside and turned me so that I saw the outline of the hill and the distant temple in the starlight.
"I will take you back myself,” he said.
There was a reason why I didn't want him to do that. “Tarvik, I think you should return to your chamber and perhaps move around and talk loudly so Ober hears you."
"I cannot let you wander the hill alone."
"Lor is waiting nearby."
"Why not let me walk with you?"
I think he did not completely believe he was in danger. I said, “If Ober guesses we are gone, she will search your room until she finds the passage."
"She would not dare enter my room!"
"Can you be certain of that? She came to the temple today to ask me why your father stopped to speak with me this morning."
"How did she know about that when I did not?” he asked.
"Right. Be careful, Tarvik. Wait. There, I see Lor in the shadow of those trees. Go back. It will be safer for us both."
"Is he there? Yes. Then I suppose—Stargazer, if you seek me again, come this way. Here, let me show you. Press upon the outer wall to open the door. Do you feel it?” He caught my hand and guided it up the wall, then spread my fingers against the latchstone.
"Yes."
"Stargazer?"
"What?"
To my surprise, or perhaps not, he tightened his hand around mine, circled me with his other arm, pressed his face against my ear and whispered, “I have trusted you. I have shown you the secret entrance to the castle, known to none but me. My father knows nothing of this passageway and I have never shown it to Artur. If I trust you, will you trust me?"
For a mo
ment I could barely breathe, unsure what he would do if I pushed him away. Standing very still, held captive, feeling the heat of his cheek against mine, I managed to mumble, “I constantly trust you with my life. Now hurry, before Ober sends out a search party for you."
He hesitated, his hand still clinging to mine, then let go, stepped away from me and went back inside the passage. The door closed behind him. I knew Lor could hear us enough to know we were near, but couldn't see me in the shadow of the wall. I didn't need to explain to him what I planned to do. He would wait all night for me. He'd suspect, as I did, that Ober's guards had instructions to do something other with me than return me to the temple.
To wait in darkness with Lor nearby didn't take any courage. The old man would protect me with his life for Nance's sake. To turn and touch the latchstone was another matter. I did not like dark, narrow, enclosed places. But I did it, turned, ran my fingers lightly across the outer wall until I found that small chipped spot on the stones. I knew I had to return to the place where I'd heard the woman speaking.
Biting my lower lip for courage, I went inside and closed the door behind me, entombing myself. I thought I knew where the inner release must be, but I wasn't sure, and if I searched for it now and did not find it, I was going to give in to noisy hysterics. My heart was already pounding so loudly it seemed to me the whole castle would hear it.
I waited for my eyes to accustom to the dark. I could see almost nothing, a few gray shadows in the black. Feeling my way along the wall and counting turns, my shaking fingertips scraped stone until I touched rug backing. No sound.
Tracing the wall opening with my hands, I found it to be barely large enough to squeeze a person through, a large stone missing, nothing more. I felt my way along the passage until I found the square piece of stone, bumped my toes on it, bent down in the dark and measured its size with my hands. Who had removed it and left it here against the wall?
Ober? No. If she knew about the passageway she wouldn't bother to wait outside Tarvik's door. She would have stood behind Tarvik's room and eavesdropped.
Tarvik? If so, then he must already suspect whoever occupied this room and that didn't seem likely.
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